“It’s a disaster for Republicans,” Cruz said. “It’s a disaster for conservatives. It’s a disaster for the country.”

The Texas senator rallied supporters at Johnson County Community College on Wednesday evening ahead of Sen. Marco Rubio’s Friday campaign stop in Wichita and Saturday’s caucuses.

Cruz promised a crowd of more than 1,000 that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act, pass a flat tax and abolish the Internal Revenue Service — ideas that drew uproarious applause.

But Cruz focused his firepower on Trump’s history on illegal immigration, where both candidates have taken a hard line. The issue is a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign — he has promised to build a wall along the Mexican border and make Mexico pay for it — but Cruz accused Trump of hypocrisy on the issue.

“It’s one thing to talk about illegal immigration in a Republican primary and the candidates always do that, but if you want to know where someone stands, the simple question is in 2013 when we were fighting the epic battle against the Gang of Eight plan, where did you stand?” Cruz said, a reference to immigration reform legislation that failed in Congress, before saying Trump had donated to proponents of the bill.

Cruz, who ascended to the Senate in 2012, has drawn scorn from fellow senators used to a more collegial approach. He hasn’t been afraid to criticize other Republicans in public.

As a consequence, Cruz has had a rocky relationship with the establishment GOP. Yet he established himself on Super Tuesday as the clear second-place candidate, putting establishment Republicans in a tough spot.

Republicans who wanted establishment favorite Rubio to be the one to take on Trump will have to decide whether that is still a viable option or if they must put aside their disdain for Cruz in order to stop the brash billionaire.

“For some who want to stop Trump, Cruz’s victories were not good last night,” Topeka political scientist Bob Beatty said.

“If Cruz had lost Texas there might have been more pressure for the non-Trumpeters to rally around one candidate, and many of those non-Trumpeters don’t like Cruz.”

Cruz walked away from Super Tuesday, which was dominated by Southern states, with wins in Oklahoma, Alaska and his home state of Texas. Trump won seven states. Rubio snagged Minnesota.

From a delegate perspective, however, Cruz earned almost as many delegates Tuesday as Trump — 209 to Trump’s 234. Overall, Trump has 316 delegates, Cruz has 226 and Rubio has a little more than 100.

Still, Cruz acknowledged he would have dropped out if he had lost Texas. Candidates should be able to win their home states, he said, a veiled reference to Rubio. Polls in Rubio’s home state of Florida, which will vote March 15, have Trump leading.

Already, the GOP establishment is showing some signs it will be able to embrace Cruz if he clearly has the best shot at countering Trump. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had been a GOP presidential candidate before dropping out and is no fan on Cruz, said on CBS News the party may need to rally around Cruz to stop Trump.

Cruz, speaking with reporters, said he and Graham have differences but added Graham was acknowledging the simple reality of the race.

A Kansas poll released last week showed Cruz coming in second to Trump. Trump’s support stood at 26 percent to Cruz’s 14 percent. About 39 percent were undecided — leaving plenty of room for Cruz to improve.

Gov. Sam Brownback told The Associated Press the GOP may be headed toward a brokered convention, which will occur if no single candidate amasses a majority of delegates through the primary and caucus process. Such an outcome would be unprecedented in the modern political era.

Although calls are mounting nationally for anti-Trump Republicans to coalesce around a single candidate, elected Kansas Republicans so far don’t appear interested in consolidating their support ahead of Saturday’s caucuses. Officials have largely split their support between Cruz and Rubio.

Brownback, Sen. Pat Roberts and Rep. Mike Pompeo all support Rubio. Rep. Tim Huelskamp and a number of state lawmakers have sided with Cruz. Secretary of State Kris Kobach endorsed Trump on Monday, but is the only Kansas statewide elected official to back the New York businessman.

Kansas GOP director Clay Barker said he expects good turnout on Saturday, with two of the top three candidates campaigning in the state this week for voter support — and the 40 delegates the state holds.

“You’ve got three campaigns working the state,” Barker said.

Cruz should be popular in the Sunflower State, Beatty said. He has courted evangelicals, and the candidate backed by evangelicals has triumphed in Kansas during the past two presidential election cycles.

Additionally, Ben Carson, a GOP candidate who has polled poorly but is popular among evangelicals, indicated Wednesday he will effectively cease campaigning, saying he won’t participate in the next GOP debate. Evangelical Carson supporters may now see Cruz as the next best option.

Cruz sought to ingratiate himself with Carson supporters, praising the brain surgeon as an “American story” and highlighting what he called Carson’s decency in a race full of mudslinging and insults.